12 Ways to Interact With Patch

It's been a little over three months since we've launched the Oak Park-River Forest edition of Patch, and it's probably a good time to remind our readers why we're here and what this site is all about. Simply put, it's about you.

Our programmers and web developers have built Patch in a way that makes it simple to comment on stories, share your opinions, post photos and announcements and add events to the community calendar. As the site's editor, part of my responsibilities are to help residents use Patch to connect with one another.

Here are a dozen ways we can make that happen:

1. Comment on an Article

We subscribe to the idea that news is a conversation, as well as a process. Much of our reporting will originate with a reader's e-mail, or from story comments and conversations around town. Share your thoughts and reactions to our articles by posting a comment directly below each story. 

2. Ask a Question

So maybe you want to know when that pothole is going to get fixed, or maybe you're a local expert on native trees just dying for someone to ask why their allergies are so bad this year. Patch's new Q&A section is the place for you to ask your questions and show off your expertise, all while connecting with your neighbors. Visit the Q&A page and ask a question, or answer someone else's.

3. Post an Event or Announcement

Do you know of a book signing at our local bookstore, a celebrity chef appearing at cooking store or an art exhibit at a local coffee shop? Is there a garage sale or graduation ceremony coming up? If it's not on our Patch calendar, it should be. Feel free to add to our Events page.

You can also post births, engagements and wedding announcements. Tell us who made the honor roll or share school awards, social notes and thank you shout-outs. If you're looking for volunteers or searching for your lost dog, we welcome you to call on the Oak Park and River Forest communities for help. Just remember, our Terms of Service say announcements should be for personal use and not for advertising.

4. Send a News Tip

Again, many of our stories originate with a news tip delivered by someone in the community. Whether it's a juicy item or a simply an event you think we should cover, we'd love to hear about it. At the bottom of the homepage, there's a link that says, "Send Us News Tips," and your tip will be sent straight to editor Casey Cora.

5. Sign Up for Newsletters

The daily Oak Park-River Forest Patch newsletter brings you all articles and announcements that have been posted in the last 24 hours. It is delivered to your email every day at 9 a.m. You can also sign up for the weekly newsletter, which shows a subset of the content created and featured on our site over the last few days. That's delivered every Thursday at 10 a.m.

6. Use Our Directory, Claim Your Listing

Our business and organization listings aren't skimpy. Our team of researchers actually hit the streets and visited businesses, schools, parks, libraries and produced more than 1,400 listings for local entities. To contact us about the listing for your business or organization, e-mail us at directorysupport@patch.com. If you own or manage a business or organization in our directory, you can search for your listing on our main Directory page, then claim it. 

7. Shout It Out!

Tell us what you have to say right now by using the new shout box at the top of the Activity Stream. Whatever you "shout" will go directly into the stream, right on the homepage.

8. Upload Your Photos and Video

Upload videos of neighborhood storm damage or your kid's first home run. Post photos from local festivals, or send in a snapshot of your best holiday recipes. We invite you to share the memories that you've caught on camera with the rest of the community.

9. Advertise With Us

For all advertising queries, please e-mail our Oak Park-River Forest Patch Ad Manager John Finn at john.finn@patch.com

10. Review Restaurants

Do you want to be the first to rave about the new local restaurant? Or to recommend the lunch offerings at or the menu at the ?  You can post a review of your favorite — or least favorite — restaurants by scouring our Restaurants page, where you can winnow your search by cuisine, price or seating accommodations.

11. Social Media Engagement

It's been a blast contributing to, and learning from, the local news conversations taking place on Twitter. We're at twitter.com/OakParkPatch – follow along. Whether you're new to tweets or an established member of the local Twitterati, we'll make it worth your while.

And for better or worse, we're virtually plugged in all the time, so feel free to DM (direct message) us if you'd like to ask a question or see something going down you think we should check out.

Oh, and we're also Facebook, too. Why not become a fan of our page? We'll send local news directly to your stream, whether you're browsing from home, work or your smartphone.

12. Send a Letter to the Editor

True, we like to think of our Patch sites as a smart, new way to cover communities. But we also like going old school, so we'd like like to extend an invitation to submit a letter to the editor. Express your thoughts or concerns about anything that might be stirring up conversation around town, and we'll post it. Make sure it's not longer than 300 words and e-mail it to editor Casey Cora at casey@patch.com